{"id":2051418,"date":"2026-07-19T20:01:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T17:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2051418"},"modified":"2026-07-19T20:01:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T17:01:27","slug":"why-was-carlos-alcaraz-on-the-pitch-before-world-cup-final-between-spain-and-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2051418","title":{"rendered":"Why was Carlos Alcaraz on the pitch before World Cup final between Spain and Argentina?"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Why was Carlos Alcaraz on the pitch before World Cup final between Spain and Argentina?<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/kevin-palmer\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Kevin Palmer                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"19 Jul 2026 9:01 PM\" data-ps-date=\"19 Jul 2026 9:01 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1784491287\"><br \/>\n                            19 Jul 2026 9:01 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Why was Carlos Alcaraz on the pitch before World Cup final between Spain and Argentina?\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alcaraz-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Carlos Alcaraz at the World Cup final\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Carlos Alcaraz at the World Cup final                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> made an appearance at the start of the World Cup final and his fans will be hoping it is a sign of things to come for the former world No 1.<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz was joined by South Korean model and actress Hoyeon as he brought the World Cup trophy onto the pitch prior to the match between defending champions Argentina and European champions Spain.<\/p>\n<p>A huge football fan, Alcaraz would have glued to a TV screen if he was not an invited guest at the World Cup final, with the Spanish superstar eager to cheer on his countrymen to glory.<\/p>\n<p>Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Alcaraz<\/a> fans may have been surprised to see the seven-time Grand Slam champion sporting his new long haircut, which is very different from the tight haircut he displayed at last year\u2019s US Open.<\/p>\n<p>He confirmed his brother had started to cut his hair and when he cut a little too much off, he was forced to shave his head prior to what would be a successful challenge to win the title in New York almost a year ago.<\/p>\n<h2>More Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/jannik-sinner-girlfriend-nick-kyrgios-new-girlfriend\">Nick Kyrgios continues a summer of tennis romances as Carlos Alcaraz rumours swirl<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/tennis-not-open-contest-carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner-adriano-panatta\">\u2018Tennis isn\u2019t an open contest without Carlos Alcaraz \u2013 Jannik Sinner is simply too strong\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz\u2019s appearance at the World Cup final in New Jersey meant he was not far away from that memorable triumph at the US Open and he will be hoping to be back to full fitness in time to play in the final Grand Slam of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz has not been seen on a sporting stage since he injured his wrist at the Barcelona Open in April, with his absence from tennis seeing him miss the defence of his French Open title in Paris and he was also absent from Wimbledon.<\/p>\n<p>Recent footage suggested Alcaraz was a long way from a return to action, with the 23-year-old striking the ball gently as he edged his way back to fitness.<\/p>\n<p>Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski was among those who expressed his belief that Alcaraz would need more time to recover from his wrist injury.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L8sL9mn3R5k\" target=\"_blank\">Off Court with Greg Rusedski<\/a>, the British star said:\u00a0\u201cI would be shocked if he is playing the US Open! Because what I noticed when I was watching the video footage, you know he\u2019s hitting some light forehands, some light backhands, barely hitting the ball, doing movement patterns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when he was serving, did you realise that he didn\u2019t hit one serve. He was doing the full motion and landing, letting the ball drop and then restarting the motion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, to put a video out like that, I guess it gets you the publicity to say, \u2018 Look, I\u2019m working hard to try to get back\u2019. But it gives me more questions than answers and it just tells me that there\u2019s something a lot more serious if he\u2019s not actually hitting the ball.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we saw him hitting the ball against the wall, the ball was barely getting to him too, so it\u2019s a little bit of advertisement for the Alcaraz Academy indoor court that was there, but from my perspective as a coach and a player, I am deeply concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rusedski is not the first person to express his fear about Alcaraz following his filmed return to the court as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/boris-becker-shares-worrying-update-on-carlos-alcaraz-after-watching-him-train\">Boris Becker also said Alcaraz was \u2018far off\u2019 a return<\/a> after watching his practice videos on social media.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-serena-williams-alex-eala-jannik-sinner-usopen-mixed-doubles\">US Open Mixed Doubles dream teams \u2013 Alcaraz, Serena, Eala &amp; Sinner in the mix next month<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why was Carlos Alcaraz on the pitch before World Cup final between Spain and Argentina? Kevin Palmer 19 Jul 2026 9:01 PM Carlos Alcaraz at the World Cup final Carlos Alcaraz made an appearance at the start of the World Cup final and his fans will be hoping it is a sign of things to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2051418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2051418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2051418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2051418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2051418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}